Device for opening or closing a sliding door displaceable along

ABSTRACT

A sliding door which can be displaced along a wall by means of a drive cylinder with a piston, the stroke of the piston being smaller than the path to be travelled by the sliding door. Two or more projections are mounted on the door, with which the piston coacts when the door is opened or closed.

United States Patent 1 1 Q 1 1 6" Markus 1 I 1 [451 Apr. 9,1974

[54] D VI E F N G 0 LO I A 3,395,842 8/1968 Heinen 226/62 SLIDING DOOR DISPLACEABLE ALONG 3,231,259 [/1966 Bobrowski 49/360 r 3,172,651 3/1965 Wilson 49/360 [76] Inventor: Jan Jacob Gerard Markus, 3,378,952 4/1968 Bidelman et a] 49/360 Griendstraat 11, Krimpen aan-den 3,462,883 8/1969 Reeks et a1. 49/360 ljssel, Netherlands 1,000,784 8/191 1 Cumming 74/110 22 Filed: Aug. 4, 1972 21 Appl. No(: 277,899 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay

Assistant Examiner-Peter A. Aschenbrenner [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 11, 1971 Netherlands 7111064 52 us. on 49/360, 16/49, 226/165, 1571 ABSTRACT 16/71 51] Int. C1...L. E051 11/00 A i ng r hi h n e displaced along a wall by [58] Field of Search 16748.5, 49, 66, 71; mean of a drive y i d t a pi t the str ke of 5 312/295; 188/1437269/27; 74/110; 226/62,- vthe piston being smaller than the path to he travelled V 1 67, 165; 49/36() by the sliding door. 'Two or rnore projections are V V t mounted on the door, with which thepiston coasts [56 References Cited when the door is opened or closed. UNITED STATESPATENTS N 2,695,09 11/1954 orid'le 226/165 '2 C1aim ,8 Drawing Figures PATENTEB APR 9 i974 sum 1 nr 3 FIG. 1

a FIG. 2

PMENTEDAPR 91974 sum 2 or 3 FIG. 5

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

PATENTEDAPR 9 ISM SHEET 3 BF 3 -1 l DEVICE FOR OPENING OR CLOSING A SLIDING DOOR DISPLACEABLE ALONG The present invention relates to a device for opening or closing a sliding door displaceable along a wall, said door having a drve cylinder with a piston mounted on the wall or on another fixed point, the stroke of which piston is smaller than the path to be travelled by the door during opening or closing, and having at least two projections mounted on the door with one of which a support mounted on the drive piston rod coacts over part of said path.

It is known to cause the drive cylinder to impart such a speed to such a sliding door for a short time that the door, after the coaction has stopped, travels the remaining part'of the path through the energy of movement (momentum).

In order to transmit sufficient energy of movement'to the door it is necessary to give ample dimensions to the drive cylinder. Particularly in a'door having a high weight of its own, the drive unitshould be very sturdy, while it should be borne in mind that there will be an increasing frictional resistance of the door when the guide structure becomes older.

Afurther'drawback of this prior drive device is that if, the door is unexpectedly stopped, for instance by some obstacle or other, before the full pathhas been travelled, and has thereby, come beyond the reach of the support, the doorcan be moved farther only by manual effort.

The object of the present invention'is to remove that when the sliding door is in the position of the door shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view on enlarged scaleof the-spring-biased pin.

In FIG. 1 a sliding door 1, which can be displaced along a guide part 2, is drawn in the position in which an opening 3 in a wall 4 is covered.

The door 1 can be moved by a drive unit 5, for example a pneumatic cylinder with a piston and a piston rod 5 a, which is provided on the free end with support 6 and a pin 7, the position of which is determined by the shape of a profiled guide 8 havingbevelled ends 9 and 10. The dragger pin 7 is urged upwards by means of a spring 7a, shown in FIG. 8, the upward urging being to a position as shown in FIGS. 3-6.

On the door there are mounted projections ll, 12 and 13, with which the pin 7 can coact.

A switch 14 is mounted on the wall 4, while the door is provided with contact elements 15, 1 6, which coact with the switch 14 during the opening of the door.

A switch 17 also mounted on the wall 4 coacts during the closing of the door with two other'contact elements 18 and 19 mounted on the door.

The switching combination 14, l5,andl6 and also l7, l8 and 19 can consist both of contactless and of mechanically operated switches.

' As shown in FIG. 7 two starter switches 20 and 21 are provided for introducing the movements of the door these drawbacks and to provide a drive construction hind a next projection the support can be provided, ac-

cording to a preferred embodiment of the invention, with a spring-biased pin which is slidable transverse to the direction of displacement of the piston and catches behind one of the projections in an extended position against spring pressure. Furthermore, according to the invention, the position of the pin with respect to the support can be determined by a stationary profiled guide extending over the outreach of the support.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the control device may have a switching means with contacts, of which part is mounted on the door and part on the wall.

The invention will now be elucidated in more detail with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment of the device by way of example: i

FIG. 1 shows a front elevational view of a sliding door according to the invention in closed position;

FIG. 2-5 show the upper part of the sliding door v shown in FIG. 1 in different positions during the opening of the door;

FIG. 6 is the same view of the sliding door in entirely opened position and FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of the control device of the present invention, the circuit condition depicted being from the two end positions, as well as a changeover. switch 22, operated by the doorv in the two end posi: tions. i f

'Said switches are connected with an electrically operable air valve 23 having. two alternative axial positions. In the axial position shown, the valve 23 enables air to be introduced into the drive motor 5. to the right of the piston on piston rod Sa'and air to be vented from the left hand end of the drive motor 5. In the other axial position, air is introduced to the left of the piston and air to the right of the piston is vented from the drive motor 5.

The operation is as follows: t

In the position shown in FIG. I the opening3 in the wall is entirely closedand the piston rod 5a is retracted in the drive unit 5 in its extremely leftposition, while the pin 7 is urged upwards by the spring (not shown) against the oblique face 9 of the guide 8.

Operation of the starter switch 20 (-FIG. 7) actuates valve 23 to enable air to be introduced into the drive .motor 5 to the left of the piston to move the support 6 to the right. During this movement the pin 7 runs against the oblique end 9 of the guide 8 and is thereby urged downwards against spring action, while the pin 7 catches behind the projection 111 on the door and moves the door to the right (FIG. 2).

At the end of the outreach of the drive piston (FIG. 3) the pin 7 runs upwardly along the bevelled edge 10 of the guide 8 and is, thereby freed from the projection 1 l.

Owing to the accompanying momentum of the door, thedoor l is subsequently displaced further the opening direction.

Substantially at the same time the contact element 15 comes into contact with the switch 14, so that the valve 23 is actuated to enable air to be introduced into the drive unit 5 to the right of the piston. The piston rod 5a of the drive motor is retracted to the position shown in FIG. 4, while the pin 7 runs upwards along the guide face 9, so that the projection 12 can pass under the pin 7.

At this moment the contact element 16 comes into contact with the switch 14, as a result of which valve 23 is'actuated to enable air to be introduced into the drive motor 5 to the left of the piston whereby the piston rod 5a will be displaced to the right. During this the pin 7 is urged downwardly by the bevelled face 9' and catches behind the projection 12, during which the door 1 is pushed farther.

At the end of the outreach of the piston rod it comes to rest inthe position shown in FIG. 5, while the door runs farther owing to its momentum to the entirely opened position shown in FIG. 6. During this movement the change-over switch 22 is operated, as a result of which the switches 14 and 16 are rendered inoperative.

The subsequent closing movement of the door 1 takes place in reversed order by operating the starter switch 21 to actuate the valve 23 whereby air will be -introduced into the drive motor 5 to the right of the pisover switch 22 is restored to the position shown in FIG. 7 i

It will be clear that the number of projections located between the end projections 11 and 13 need not be restricted to one, but may also be more than one projection with which the door can be driven each time over part of the total path of the door in the manner described above.

I claim 1 A device for opening and closing a door which is guidingly supported on a wall for sliding movement in a travel path along said wall between full open and full closed positions comprising a drive unit including a cylinder, a piston slidable in said cylinder, and a rod connected at one end to said piston, said cylinder being fixedly mounted with respect to the travel path of said door in a position wherein said piston and rod move in forward and return strokes in a course parallel to the travel path of said door adjacent the upper part of said the pin 7 door, the stroke of said piston and rod being less than the travel of said door when said door is moved between full closed and full open positions and vice-versa, said door'having at least three projections fixed to the upper part thereof, a support carried on the other end of said piston rod, a spring biased pin mounted on said support, said pin being disposed for sliding movement transverse to the travel path of said door and normally being urged by said spring in a direction away from said door travel path, fixed guide means, said pin being engaged with said guide means, said guide means being effective to bias said pin in opposition to said spring towards said door travel path during forward and return stroke travel of said piston rod except during initial and terminal portions of said forward and return stroke travel, one of said projections being disposed on said door at a location such that when said door is in a fully closed position said pin engages therewith to impart sliding travel to said door during a first forward stroking travel of said piston rod to initiate opening of said door, said pin releasing from engagement with said first projection at the end of the first forward stroking travel of said piston rod, control means operative to stroke said piston rod in a first return stroke following the release of said pin from said first projection, said control means including switch means operative when said piston rod has completed said first return stroke to effect a second forward stroking travel of said piston rod, a second of said projections being positioned on said door such that said pin engages therewith to impart further sliding travel to said door during said second forward stroke travel of said piston and momentum sufficient to carry said door to a fully open position, said control means including additional switch means operative when said piston rod reaches the end of said second forward stroking travel thereof to de-energize said control means whereby said piston rod is retained in an extended forward travel position, the third projection being positioned on said door such that said pin upon a second return stroking travel of said piston rod will engage said third projection to impart sliding travel to said door to initiate closing travel of said door, and means for re-energizing said control means to stroke said piston rod'in saidfsecond return stroke.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said switch means and said additional switch means are operated by engagement therewith of contact elements carried on the upper portion of said door. 

1. A device for opening and closing a door which is guidingly supported on a wall for sliding movement in a travel path along said wall between full open and full closed positions comprising a drive unit including a cylinder, a piston slidable in said cylinder, and a rod connected at one end to said piston, said cylinder being fixedly mounted with respect to the travel path of said door in a position wherein said piston and rod move in forward and return strokes in a course parallel to the travel path of said door adjacent the upper part of said door, the stroke of said piston and rod being less than the travel of said door when said door is moved between full closed and full open positions and vice-versa, said door having at least three projections fixed to the upper part thereof, a support carried on the other end of said piston rod, a spring biased pin mounted on said support, said pin being disposed for sliding movement transverse to the travel path of said door and normally being urged by said spring in a direction away from said door travel path, fixed guide means, said pin being engaged with said guide means, said guide means being effective to bias said pin in opposition to said spring towards said door travel path during forward and return stroke travel of said piston rod except during initial and terminal portions of said forward and return stroke travel, one of said projections being disposed on said door at a location such that when said door is in a fully closed position said pin engages therewith to impart sliding travel to said door during a first forward stroking travel of said piston rod to initiate opening of said door, said pin releasing from engagement with said first projection at the end of the first forward stroking travel of said piston rod, control means operative to stroke said piston rod in a first return stroke following the release of said pin from said first projection, said control means including switch means operative when said piston rod has completed said first return stroke to effect a second forward stroking travel of said piston rod, a second of said projections being positioned on said door such that said pin engages therewith to impart further sliding travel to said door during said second forward stroke travel of said piston and momentum sufficient to carry said door to a fully open position, said control means including additional switch means operative when said piston rod reaches the end of said second forward stroking travel thereof to de-energize said control means whereby said piston rod is retained in an extended forward travel position, the third projection being positioned on said door such that said pin upon a second return stroking travel of said pistOn rod will engage said third projection to impart sliding travel to said door to initiate closing travel of said door, and means for reenergizing said control means to stroke said piston rod in said second return stroke.
 2. The device of claim 1 in which said switch means and said additional switch means are operated by engagement therewith of contact elements carried on the upper portion of said door. 